Invitation to the Dance

June 6, 2004

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Psalm 23

John 16: 12-15

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

A long time ago, when I was a student in seminary, one of the jobs I had was playing keyboards in a band. It was very happy work for a young fellow in student days. One of the other things I did was calling square dances. That was fashionable back in that time, and I guess some people still do that kind of thing.

One of the dances that we did was called the invitation dance. A small group of people would gather in the center of the floor. They’d join hands and circle to the left, to the left, left, left. They’d go around that ring, then back to the right, to the other way back, and they’d walk to the center and they’d walk back again. And they’d swing around, the two-hand swing. And then it was time to invite. The music would change tempo, and everybody in the circle would go to the audience and offer a hand. They’d say, “Come on and join us.” And some people were just sort of scared, but some people would get a wonderful smile across their faces, and they’d offer their hands and come on up. They’d join hands in the circle, and the circle doubled in size.

They’d dance to the left, left, left, and back to the right, around that ring. Four steps to the center and four steps back out and the two-hand swing. Everybody invite! And all those people, the ones there originally and the ones there the second time around, went to the audience and offered a hand.

I tell you, one of the most beautiful sights was looking at the people who were invited. When they got a hand offered to them by one of the dancers, there was a look across their faces that said, “Really? Me? Okay!” and they’d get up and dance. And the circle was now four times its original size.

And everyone was circling to the left and circling to the right and marching to the middle and marching back out again. It was a beautiful thing to see.

Oh, my dear friends in Christ, I would like to suggest to us this morning that the picture of that dance is the picture of the way Jesus wants us to be as Christians. In today’s second reading, we hear the story of Jesus inviting Peter and Andrew to be His disciples.

Now, as you heard in the Gospel story, there were a whole list of regulations that Jesus gave to them, weren’t there? There were a whole list of instructions and caveats. There were a whole lot of warnings. There were a whole lot of things that were accurate job descriptions of everything they would be expected to do as disciples of Jesus Christ.

No, no, no – there were not! The scripture says that Jesus went to Peter and his brother Andrew as those two fellows were fishing by the Sea of Galilee. These were strong fishermen. These were ‘salt of the earth’ kind of guys. Jesus watched them and said, “I believe that they have what it takes. I’m going to call them to be my disciples.” So He went up to them and He said, “Peter, Andrew, come follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of people.”

Do you think they laughed? I think so. I think it was kind of a joke. I think it was funny. It was a metaphor, a play on words. But there was something so irresistible about Jesus Christ! They’d probably heard Him before. And there was something so wonderful about being invited to be part of His circle that the scripture says that they left their nets and followed Him.

Wow! What preparation! What description of what was to come! Their job description was two-fold. Follow Him, and become fishers of people. We had a lively discussion at administrative council the other night about job descriptions. We were saying, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the jobs in the church could have elaborate job descriptions enumerating and clarifying everything everybody is to do at all times? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” And one of our veteran members said, “We had this discussion about 12 years ago.”

I was just thinking about that when I got home. We do have a job description. We have a paragraph that the nominating committee reads to folks about what they’re going to do. But when I got home, I laughed at myself. I said to myself, “Now what job in the church has less job description when you’re in seminary than being a pastor?” They never told us half of what was going to be expected of us!

But you know what? We’re here because we love Jesus Christ. And no matter what the expectations or how the roles change or how the needs adjust, we follow because we love Him.

And I got to thinking, what has less of a job description than what they tell you in seminary? Parenting! Don’t you agree? Kids don’t come with instruction manuals. What has an even sketchier job description? Jesus’s call to the fishermen by the Sea of Galilee – just two things, come and follow, and be fishers of people.

Friends, I think that the powerful message that the Gospel has for us this morning is that we need to become inviters for Christ. Everybody in this room is part of the dancing circle, and all of us are called to go out and invite and welcome people in. All of us are called to be fishers of people. Will we accept the challenge? That’s the question.

Could you imagine if the circle just stayed small and there was never a chance for all those other people looking from the outside to get in? That wouldn’t be Jesus’s way. Jesus would want us to go out and extend the hand and watch those people smile as they realized that they were important enough to be called by a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Now, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and the question before us is, “Is there a need?” Is there a need in this Montgomery – Hillsborough – Belle Mead community for people to be inviters for Christ? Well, I have a little chart here. This chart is a demographic analysis of our community’s faith preferences. On this chart are represented Methodists, Jewish people, Roman Catholics, unchurched, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Reformed, and so on.

Each faith is named, with a line next to it whose length corresponds to the number of people practicing that faith in our community. At the top of this graph there’s a great big long line. That represents about 91,000 people. And then you have a whole bunch of little red lines, and then you have a big long red line at the bottom, and that represents 105,000 people. That’s a lot of people.

Now, wouldn’t you like to know what each of these lines is? The top line, 91,000 strong – any guesses? That’s our Roman Catholic friends. The next line is the Jewish estimate. The next one, Presbyterian USA – we’re naming all the faiths represented by these little lines here. Reformed Church in America, Episcopal, there’s us, the United Methodist Church, Black Baptists, Evangelical Lutheran, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Evangelical Free, and then we have this bottom line. Any guesses as to what that biggest line, 105,000, is?

You’ve got it – it’s the unchurched. One hundred five thousand people! That’s a lot of people. Now, for argument’s sake, what if we were to say that one third of that long line were hard-boiled dyed-in-the-wool absolute atheists? Statistically, 84% of Americans claim that they believe in God, so my estimate is a little skewed. Let’s say another 1/3 are the lukewarm, those who could either take religion or leave it.

Friends, that leaves us with about 40,000 people who are open to an invitation. That’s a lot of folks. I wonder what they’re waiting for. I wonder how we can appeal to them. Could it be that there’s someone out there who needs that little push, that little bit of an invitation, to come to Christ, to find the joy that you find in your faith? What can we do?

May I suggest two things for this morning? We can share and we can care. We can share our faith. Now that doesn’t mean heavy-duty, four spiritual laws kind of evangelism. No, it means sharing what God has done in your life. It’s being unafraid to mention God in a conversation. Maybe you share your faith when you’re having grace in a restaurant. It doesn’t have to be a big, elaborate grace, not loud. Just take a moment to bow your head and have a grace. People notice that. Maybe there’s an event in the church that you can invite a neighbor to. Maybe you could say, “Would you like to join me on Sunday morning? I’ll sit with you in church.” If they come and they stay, that’s great. If they only come once, you’ve allowed the Spirit to touch their hearts. The first step is to share.

I’m a little embarrassed to tell you this next story. Years ago, when I was at the Piscataway church, we had a fair number of people who would come in and ask to be married. And, if it was possible, I’d perform the wedding. But I was kind of green and scared and never talked much about inviting them to church. But then I thought, there’s something wrong with that. The next couple that came, I said, “I’m going to invite these folks.” I asked them, “Do you have a church home at the present time?” His name was Tom, hers was Elaine.

They said, “No, we don’t. We’re formerly Roman Catholics. We aren’t going anywhere right now.”

I said, “I’d like to invite you to come to our church. It’s a great church. Please come.”

They said, “Okay, we’ll think about it.” You know what I thought at that point. But the next Sunday they were there. The following Sunday they were there. I married them. They still kept coming. They had a little baby. I baptized her. I am happy to tell you that as of two years ago, Tom Smith has become the lay leader of Christ Methodist Church in Piscataway. Who would have known, from one simple invitation? More importantly, because of your invitation, you never know who might change a life, or who they might in turn invite to Christ. It’s an opportunity too great to miss.

So won’t you consider, if the Lord leads you to, be open to share your faith.

The other thing we can do is care. It’s something we can do this morning. There is such a thing as smiling evangelism, my friends. You never know who might be hanging on by a thread. You never know who might be saying, “I am new here. Everybody knows everybody. Do I mean anything to this group?” Err on the side of friendliness, won’t you? You never know who might need that extra smile or that extra handshake, that extra word of welcome. Don’t be afraid. Take a look around you and say, “What do these people need who are around me?” and allow yourself to be a messenger of caring for Christ. Allow yourself to be an evangelist through caring.

The people who invite you may not be the same people who care once you get there. So be a caring person for Christ. Be a fisher for the Lord. I probably wouldn’t be a Methodist today if it weren’t for somebody who invited me to a play at a Methodist church and for the caring that happened after that. So won’t you be His ambassadors?

In closing, please think of this: once upon a time, somebody invited somebody who invited somebody who invited somebody else who invited you. And how different our lives would be if that chain were ever broken! It’s your turn. You are part of the chain. Follow Him, and let Him let you be fishers of people. God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.